Gloves off in airwave auction

Last-minute changes ahead of a £5 billion spectrum auction early next year promise a legal battle with rivals Everything Everywhere and Three

Vodafone and O2 had previously been ordered to give up some of the 900MHz spectrum (PA)
Vodafone and O2 could be given free rein to bid for more of Britain’s airwaves
this week as the government retreats from capping the amount of valuable
spectrum the pair can own.

Last-minute changes ahead of a £5 billion spectrum auction early next year
promise a legal battle with rivals Everything Everywhere — the parent
company of Orange and T-Mobile — and Three.

At stake is the choice 800MHz spectrum, which is up for grabs because the
analogue television signal it carries is being switched off in 2012.

Vodafone and O2, the first two mobile operators in Britain, had previously
been ordered to give up some of the 900MHz spectrum if they wanted to bid.

But new thinking from Ed Vaizey, the communications minister, suggests the
cost advantages of this slice of spectrum are less than they used to be due
to the explosion in mobile broadband demand. A cap may no